Ghanaian soldiers assault journalist Michael Aidoo, delete photos and video

Ghanaian authorities should swiftly investigate an attack on journalist Michael Aidoo and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On March 5, two soldiers at a military hospital in the Ashanti region repeatedly slapped Aidoo, a member of an investigative journalism fellowship program organized by the local press freedom group Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), and forced the journalist to do push-ups for taking pictures of the hospital, according to the journalist, who spoke by phone with CPJ, and an MFWA report. The attack lasted around 30…Read more

Ugandan journalist Lawrence Kitatta goes into hiding after assault, suspected surveillance

Ugandan authorities should investigate a February 22 assault on and several incidents of suspected surveillance of freelance journalist Lawrence Kitatta, and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. Kitatta, a photojournalist and reporter, has been in hiding and unable to work since March 11, he told CPJ via messaging app, after a group of 12 men thought to be plain-clothed government security officers were seen allegedly surveilling the offices of the Vision Group, a Kampala-based state-owned media company that publishes Kitatta’s work in its New Vision  and Bukedde newspapers, according to a report by New Vision and…Read more

Pakistani journalist Zahid Shareef Rana attacked in Punjab province

Pakistani authorities must conduct an immediate and impartial investigation into the attack on journalist Zahid Shareef Rana and hold the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Sunday, March 27, a group of around 10 men assaulted Rana, a reporter for the privately owned newspaper Daily Ausaf, in the Bhakkar district in the northeast Punjab province, according to a bystander’s video of the incident; a statement by the National Press Club in Islamabad, Pakistan; a statement by the Rawalpindi Islamabad Union of Journalists, and Rana, who spoke to CPJ by phone. Rana told CPJ that on…Read more

Zimbabwean journalist assaulted while covering opposition party election rally  

 Zimbabwean political parties participating in the March 26 by-election must ensure journalists can cover the events freely and prevent their supporters and officials from harassing or assaulting the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. Around 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 20, in Masvingo, about 182 miles (290 kilometers) south of the capital Harare, Courage Dutiro, a journalist for the privately owned newspaper TellZim, was covering an opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) election rally when Thokozile Muchuchuti, one of the party’s candidates, reportedly collapsed, according to Dutiro, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app,…Read more

Cameroon journalist Malcolm Barnabé Paho detained for 2 days, prosecuted for defamation

 Cameroonian authorities should drop the prosecution of journalist Malcom Bernabé Paho and decriminalize journalism in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On February 22, the national gendarmerie arrested Paho, director of the newspaper Midi Libre Hebdo; opened a criminal defamation case against him; and detained him for two days in the capital Yaoundé, following a complaint filed by Boba Denis, a pastor who heads the Africa Life World Mission church, an international religious organization, according to news reports  and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. Denis filed the complaint…Read more

Two Enugu state broadcaster journalists abducted, beaten while covering Nigerian elections

Nigerian authorities should investigate the recent attack and brief abduction of journalists Fredrick Nnaji and Chigozie Nwafor, hold those responsible to account, and ensure all journalists can cover the local elections safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.  On February 23, four unidentified men attacked and briefly abducted Nnaji, a news producer and presenter with the Enugu State Broadcasting Service (ESBS), and Nwafor, an ESBS reporter, as they were driving to cover local elections in Enugu state in southeast Nigeria, according to media reports, as well as Nnaji and a source familiar with the…Read more

Two Ugandan journalists charged with cyberstalking the president, remanded to prison

Ugandan authorities should unconditionally release The Alternative Digitalk television journalists Norman Tumuhimbise and Faridah Bikobere, drop any pending investigations against seven other journalists from the online media outlet, and rigorously investigate allegations that at least two of these journalists suffered serious physical abuse while in the custody of security personnel, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On the afternoon of March 10, a group of armed police and military officers raided the offices of The Alternative Digitalk, arresting the nine and confiscating equipment, including cameras, laptops, and books, according to media report, a…Read more

Cameroon Web reporter Paul Chouta assaulted again in Yaounde        

 Cameroonian authorities should immediately investigate an attack on Paul Chouta, a reporter for the privately owned news website Cameroon Web, and ensure those who assaulted him are held accountable, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On Wednesday evening, Chouta was watching the UEFA Champions League soccer game between Real Madrid and Paris St. Germain with friends in a snack bar in the Damas district of the capital Yaounde when three unidentified men in a green pick-up truck abducted the journalist, drove him to the outskirts of the city, and viciously kicked and beat him…Read more

Sierra Leone journalist Alusine Antha beaten while covering land dispute

Sierra Leone authorities should swiftly identify and hold to account those responsible for the recent attack on journalist Alusine Antha, the Committee to Protect Journalist said Friday. On February 17, in the western city of Waterloo, a group of about 30 people attacked Antha while he covered a meeting over a land dispute, according to the journalist, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview, and a statement by the Media Reform Coordinating Group, a local press association. Antha, a presenter and producer with the privately owned broadcaster Eagle Africa FM, planned to cover a…Read more

Indian authorities arrest journalist Nilesh Sharma, re-arrest Fahad Shah

Authorities in Chhattisgarh state and the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir region must immediately release journalists Nilesh Sharma and Fahad Shah and drop all investigations launched based on their journalistic work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On March 2, police in Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur arrested Sharma, editor of privately owned satirical news website Indiawriters.co.in, at his home, according to multiple news reports. Separately, on Sunday, March 6, police in Jammu and Kashmir re-arrested Shah, editor of the privately owned news website The Kashmir Walla, hours after he was granted bail in another case, according to multiple news reports.…Read more